5 days in Tokyo itinerary and what to do

You’ve got just five days to explore one of the largest, most vibrant cities in the world – Tokyo, Japan. With the help of this travel guide, you’ll be able to make the best use of your time – and your Japan Rail Pass – to glimpse all that the Neon City has to offer.

This guide is designed to appeal to travelers with a wide range of interests, including anime and manga fans, history buffs, foodies, and nature lovers. If one “day” of this itinerary is more interesting to you than another, feel free to expand that day’s activities while omitting others. You can also check our Tokyo 3-day itinerary if you plan to stay shorter!

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History of the Shinkansen: 50 years of the Japanese bullet train

The Shinkansen are Japan’s gleaming symbol of technological development, its fast and efficient means of transportation. The Shinkansen are bullet trains that connect cities throughout Japan¡s high speed railways.

Most visitors to Japan desire to experience the Shinkansen trains, which attain top speeds in excess of 320 kilometers per hour (199 miles per hour), although most regular trains don’t go beyond 300 km/h. Tourists may not realize, however, all that has gone into making this unique rapid transportation possible.

Today’s bullet train system is over fifty years in the making. It is also one of the safest means of transportation, one of the few transit systems in the world that can boast of having no fatal accidents across its long history. In this article, we will consider some of the major events that have made Japan’s rail system the one you can today enjoy with the Japan Rail Pass.

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The Tokyo Monorail: Haneda Airport to Tokyo

The Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line, often called simply the Tokyo Monorail, began operation in 1964. It was the first commercial monorail system in the world. The elevated straddle-beam monorail line parallels the coast of Tokyo Bay. Travelers can enjoy seaside views, and on clear days, Mount Fuji is visible in the distance.

Haneda Airport is ideal for travelers wishing to reach Tokyo, as it is much closer to the city center than Tokyo’s Narita Airport. It is also the busiest airport in Japan. The Tokyo Monorail is there to ease this inherent congestion and make travel to and from the airport an excursion in itself.

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Taking the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Sapporo

Japan is a wondrous, exotic land, full of iconic places, pop-culture galore, and a perfect marriage between the old and the new.

Among one of Japan’s most iconic symbols is the Shinkansen bullet train, an incredible piece of engineering and technology that links major cities in Japan in just a few hours. Throughout the years, Japan has been expanding and improving its railway system to cover the majority of each island and facilitate traveling all together.

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